Kayaks and Forgotten Dreams

Kayaks and Forgotten Dreams is the pivotal canoe journey that rekindles Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson's dormant love, culminating in a thunderstorm that forces them to shelter together and consummate their reawakened passion. The excursion, which takes them to a hidden lake teeming with tundra swans and Canada geese, becomes the crucible in which Allie's suppressed feelings for Noah resurface and she finally acknowledges that she has fallen in love with him again—a recognition that sets the stage for the agonizing choice between her fiancé, Lon Hammond Jr., and the man she has never truly stopped loving.

The Journey to the Hidden Lake

Allie wakes early on the second day of her visit, having slept in the shirt Noah lent her, and finds herself thinking about the morning she once spent with him in his canoe watching the sunrise. She knows he is a morning person and imagines he is already on the water. She is right: Noah is up before dawn, drinks a quick glass of milk, grabs two biscuits, and walks to the dock where his kayak is stored. He lifts the well-used, river-stained kayak from its rusty hooks, launches it, and paddles hard upstream for two hours, working off tension and preparing for the day. When he returns, he feels renewed. He checks the western sky and sees thick, heavy storm clouds approaching, but decides to proceed anyway. He retrieves his two-man canoe from the shed, carries it to the bank, and leaves it a few feet from the water. After showering and dressing in new jeans, a red shirt, and black cowboy boots, he does the dishes, makes coffee, and waits on the porch. Allie, meanwhile, spends the morning downtown, browsing an art gallery on Front Street where she is drawn to a painting that reminds her of her own work, and then buys paper, drawing chalk, and pencils at Hoffman-Lane. Back in her room, she sketches a street scene and then, working from memory, produces a detailed portrait of Noah. She finishes just before noon, rolls it up, and drives to his house.

The Canoe and the Swans

Noah hears her car turn up the drive and meets her in front of the house. She kisses him gently on the cheek, her free hand lingering at his waist. He warns her about the approaching storm, but she insists they go anyway. They walk to the canoe, and she sits at the front facing backwards so she can watch him paddle. As he rows, she studies his body—the flex of his chest muscles, the well-developed arms—and finds herself thinking of him in artistic terms, as something natural and almost contradictory in his combination of simplicity and depth. She asks him what he remembers most from the summer they spent together, and he answers that he remembers every moment, that the entire summer was perfect, and that he fell in love with her despite their differences. He tells her that love like that has happened only once and that every minute is seared in his memory. She is moved by his words, which no one has ever said to her before. He guides the canoe around a fallen tree that obscures an opening, and they enter a small lake fed by Brices Creek. It is spectacular: thousands of tundra swans and Canada geese surround them, floating so close together that in places the water is invisible. The groups of swans look almost like icebergs. They sit in silence, watching the birds, and Noah points out a group of recently hatched chicks following a pack of geese near the shore. Allie reaches out to touch the closest birds, feeling their feathers ruffle under her fingers. Noah hands her bread, and she scatters it, favoring the little ones, laughing as they swim in circles. They stay until thunder booms in the distance.

The Storm and the Fire

Noah paddles hard back to the main creek as dark clouds roll overhead. Rain begins to fall, light at first, then harder. Lightning flashes, and thunder grows louder. Allie leans her head back, letting the rain hit her face, and runs her hands through her wet hair. She feels wonderful, and the sound of Noah breathing hard arouses her sexually in a way she has not felt in years. When they reach the dock, he helps her out and ties the canoe. As he looks up at her, he sees the outline of her breasts pressing through the wet fabric of her dress and quickly turns away. They walk to the house holding hands, and she realizes that something has changed: she has fallen in love with Noah Taylor Calhoun again, and maybe she never stopped. Inside, he gives her dry clothes—cotton trousers and a long-sleeved shirt—and she changes in his bedroom, feeling a secret thrill at being naked in the same room he sleeps in. She comes downstairs to find him squatting before a fire, coaxing it to life. She sits on a rug in front of the fire with a quilt over her legs, and he joins her with two glasses of bourbon. As the storm rages outside, they talk. She tells him that she remembers making love with him most of all, that he was her first and the only man she has ever been with. He tells her that he loves her now and always has. They give in to everything they have fought against for fourteen years. She undoes the buttons on his shirt, and they make love by the fire. They spend the day in each other's arms, alternately making love and holding each other as they watch the flames. He recites his favorite poems, and she listens with her eyes closed. They go on throughout the evening, making up for their years apart, and sleep in each other's arms that night. In the moments before daybreak, he whispers to her that she is the answer to every prayer he has ever offered, a song, a dream, a whisper, and that he loves her more than she can imagine.

Consequences and Aftermath

The next morning, Noah makes breakfast for Allie while she sleeps, and after they eat they make love again. They spend the morning together, feeding Clem and checking for storm damage: two pine trees have blown over but caused little harm, and a few shingles have flown off the shed. He holds her hand most of the morning, and sometimes he stops speaking just to stare at her. A little before noon, they prepare lunch and eat on the porch, serenaded by a mockingbird. While they are doing the dishes, a knock comes at the door. Noah opens it to find Anne Nelson, Allie's mother, who has come to warn them that Lon Hammond Jr. has figured out where Allie is and is on his way to New Bern. The idyllic interlude is shattered, and Allie is forced to confront the choice between the life she has built with Lon and the love she has rediscovered with Noah.